We are a couple in our mid60s cruising with our terrier dog. It has been exactly one year since we began our journey in St Thomas USVI where we bought this Pearson 37-2, our first boat. After about six months on the dock and a few weeks on the hard, getting to know our boat and how to work on diverse jobs, we hired a skipper to get us the heck out of Dodge before hurricane season. Autopilot failed so we learned how much fun handsteering can be. We spent months at anchor in Spanish Waters, Curacao, taking a few sailing lessons on a smaller boat just to get the hang of it, then made our first solo sail, to Aruba. Still lacking in much actual sailing experience we have nevertheless learned alot over the past year, enough to know that there is still much to learn! Now we are at anchor in Aruba waiting for parts to arrive so we can continue the joys of doing boat jobs. We will head into Varadero marina soon, fix that pesky autopilot and misc. and then go on towards Panama. I am inclined to make a direct passage because stopping in Columbia does not seem that much safer, but am studying all options and welcome advice from sailors who have gone either route recently. Thanks!